Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Bollywood Perfection

You must watch, by whatever means you can, the "Krishna's Birthday" scene from Laagan (2001), which was India's Oscar entry for best foreign film that year. The lead male dances as if he were Sri Krsna the cowherder and beloved of all the cowherdesses (gopis) simultaneously. Hence the flute playing gestures which replicate paintings of Krishna, and the jealousy of Radha, his divine consort. The religious theme is transposed to a 19th century village setting in which a village girl finds that she must compete for the attention of the male lead (Aamir Khan, not insignificantly an actor of Muslim heritage dancing as Krishna) upon whom the eyes of a British white lady have also fallen. Many Bollywood films are cheesy, many are worthwhile. This, by the director of the also magnificent Swades (2004), is one of the best.

2 comments:

Greetings! I made my way here from Beth's blog, and I just wanted to say I agree completely with your post titled 'Bollywood Perfection'. I absolutely love the film, and think it is the closest we've come to a perfect film in the modern era. Wrote a series of posts on it here.

About Me

I am a retired educator and independent scholar who is intensely interested and concerned with "big history," and the day-to-day points of connection between the local and the global. I am currently working on works of short historical fiction, an interdisciplinary essay on NRI identity, the meaning of food in world history, and on improving my Mandarin.